Four Things We Learned At Tuesday's Practice

Four things we learned from the Crew’s first training session since Saturday’s 2-1, comeback
road win against Montreal.

1. Tyson Wahl was signed primarily as a center back.The veteran MLS defender made his first 18 starts of the season at left back before a
depleted depth chart forced interim coach Brian Bliss to put Wahl inside alongside Chad Marshall
against the Impact.

“When we picked up Tyson in the offseason, in the pecking order was Tyson: left-center back who
can also play left back, not left back and can play left-center back,” Bliss said. “It was a
natural fit for him. He just hasn’t had a chance to play there yet this year. That’s his job,
really. He’s a left-center back before he’s a left back.”

Bliss said Marshall was able to steadily do more work as the week went on and that he knew for
sure he would be able to play Friday. If Josh Williams was available this weekend, Bliss said he
would be unlikely to break up the Marshall-Wahl pairing.

2. Bliss feels consistency is keeping Ben Speas out of the lineup.After making one start as a rookie last season, Speas has started 10 games this year and
bagged his first professional goal. However, injuries and some uneven play have kept Speas out of
action in eight of the last nine games.

What does Speas need to do to get back in the lineup?

“I don’t think there’s any one particular thing he needs to do,” Bliss said. “He was a house on
fire the first seven to 10 games. Him and Tyson Wahl were guys we weren’t necessarily counting on
right from the get-go who were kind of carrying us through the first seven games in terms of their
performances. Then both of them kind of slid off the table, one on performance and one on injury.
Tyson’s bounced back nicely and Speas has been mired in a little bit of mediocrity. I’m not sure
what it is. He had a wedding going on this summer that probably didn’t help his situation.

“I’m looking for an opportunity to get Speas in there. I’ve got to find the right one, and he’s
got to give me that reason to put him in there as well. I think he’ll do fine.”

3. Physicality has helped Tony Tchani stake a spot in the starting lineup.Perhaps no player has personally benefitted more from replacing Robert Warzycha with Bliss
than Tchani, who had fallen out of favor with the previous regime. Tchani replaced an injured Wil
Trapp in the 3 th minute of Bliss’ first game – Sept. 4 against Houston – and looked as solid as he
has looked in his entire Crew career.

Tchani was a halftime sub in the Crew’s ensuing 3-0 loss at Sporting Kansas City, but he was in
the starting lineup against Montreal. It was his first start since he started seven straight from
April 27-June 5, and in the 12 games between that latter game and the Houston game he tallied a
combined 30 minutes of action.

“He’s been a good physical presence in the middle of the field,” Bliss said. “He’s a big body
but he doesn’t always use it. The last few weeks when he’s gotten in there he’s used his size to
his advantage. He’s made good choices on the ball. Defensively, tactically is probably where he’s
made his biggest strides. We’ve defined his role and what we expect from him on the defensive side
and he’s risen to the occasion. That’s why he’s getting more minutes. He’s not just hanging in
there – he’s done well. That’s been a pleasant surprise.”

4. Eddie Gaven’s injury has forced Dominic Oduro into more of a midfielder role.“His biggest asset is his speed,” Bliss said. “Eddie Gaven going down, we had to ask Dom to
play another role because we know he’s played there before in Chicago so it’s not foreign to him.
Probably he has more opportunities when he’s up top but sometimes you’ve got to sacrifice for the
good of the team and right now wide right is helping us a little more and we always have the option
later to move him up.”